Wow so I just had to make a profile so I could post here. The Witcher 2 has without a doubt the hardest combat I've ever experienced. Ok I'm aware of coating blades, using traps, bombs, and potions though I don't use any of them well in this Witcher. My question is how am I supposed to take on multiple enemies? Are bombs the best solution?

On what difficulty? Strategies vary, but I can mop up multiple enemies in no time with an upgraded Quen, sending back a high percentage of received damage (which tends to be quite a bit) to three nearby enemies while it protects from their blows.

I'm playing on normal. Well I''m very early in the game and I'm trying to help I think her name was Melina clear her name. I have to go into the cave and find the missing guards but there's a hoard of nekkers. And I have no idea what to do. Thanks for the help.

Oh and one thing though. Why do I have to use a talent tp learn how to block arrows or bolts?! Geralt already knows how to do that and has done it already!
Oh and I don't really like Quen. I know it's effective and I've used it but I don't like that it stops Vigor regeneration. I wanted to focus on being able to block and use spells in unison but quen would prevent me from doing that.

Like woogglah, I am stuck on the bridge to the monastry being killed by the dragon (over 20 times now). I saw the hint about the right mouse button but nothing comes on screen when I should start pressing. If I get past the first dragon breath, it always catches me when I start running again. I am a witcher and rpg fan and this is the first time ever that I can't even finish the tutorial. Please help with precise actions I should make and when. Thankks in advance.

You're right that the RMB icon should show and it doesn't. You're supposed to use it to duck into one of the bridge alcoves to dodge the dragon fire that's aimed down the center of the bridge.

That said, I advise you to go into game options and turn off "Difficult QTEs", at least for this scene. That way you'll make the dodge manoeuvre automatically and not have to mind about the non-appearance of the RMB icon.

Other than that, to beat the dragon, hold down the "S" key before the end of the cut scene where the dragon appears and don't let up until the next cut scene starts. It doesn't work every time (for me it took four tries) but it will work.

Yeah, that was what I thought, too. :( My problem is that even when reading what people are advising, it just doesn't sound fun. I could put up with hours of effort, but the first few hours of the game have not been fun at all. I buy RPG's rather than action games because I don't like twitchy button mashing. For people who do like that type of game, it's a bonanza I guess.

And if it's not fun- f' that. I could be doing my taxes or cleaning the house if I want tedium and futility. $45 lesson learned. I'm done buying games until Skyrim comes out, and even with that one I'm going to be very cautious and read between the marketing lines.

To be honest, there was a long video detailing the new combat system on CDPR's page.

Anyhow, I strongly encourage you not to give up - change to easy, try not to "mash" but start with trying not to get surrounded, and you should be golden, enjoying the RP bits of this RPG. It really gets better and better.

Oh, and as soon as you put some XP to it, the combat get's even annoyingly easy for most of the time ;-)

@Addai67
LOL when you talking about Skyrim when badmouthing this game. Do you know you have to BLOCK in Oblivion and in Skyrim have a shield too? I think Dragon Fail2 is the game for you.

Yeah I found it hard at first. But I absolutely loved every second of it! Too few games offer any real challenge anymore and its a shame. I'm currently in chapter one of my second play through. I have the difficulty set to hard and I'm finding it a bit too easy! I don't want to set it to nightmare just yet because I don't know if I can mentally handle the depression of dieing permanently near endgame!

Uh.. no you don't. You can equip a shield and use it to block if you want, but you don't have to. They've said you can equip two weapons or only spells as your defaults if you so choose. Maybe get your facts straight before you troll.

I played Dragon Age 2 and didn't like it. I don't want a Bioware game and didn't expect one- I wanted a Witcher game, as I and the person I was responding to both said.

For those of you saying to just play it on Easy: Even on Easy, the combat is just not fun. It's awkward, the controls are unresponsive, Geralt looks like he's drunk. I talked to someone who died in a fistfight for god's sake. Mainly because the cursed UTEs are not explained anywhere. If that's what people call fun, well I'm glad someone got their money's worth.

I found the controls quite responsive myself, though I have seen others complaining about sluggish controls. Hardware related perhaps? Note that there are also many who have mid-end PCs that has gotten better performance than high-end rigs. The game's a little weird this way.

I've played on both Easy and Normal and hadn't had issues with the combat either way. I'm quite a newbie with such games too, playing mainly straightforward run-and-gun single-player FPSes which doesn't have any mechanism resembling stats upgrades and tactics. I'm also playing with a KB/M as I do most other games, so that throws the whole designed for console argument out the window. The combat in Witcher 2 is much improved over that in the original Witcher with its "timed-click" auto-combat mechanism, since it actually requires your observation of enemy movements and proper responses to them to win in combat. You're right on one point - you're playing a Witcher game, and not just any Witcher, but THE Witcher Geralt of Rivia. Geralt's no tank like Letho, and if anything he uses his agility, swordsmanship, alchemy and signs to do well in combat. It says so in the books, it says so in the opening cinematics of Witcher 1, and it's essential here, since you're not playing as yourself but as him. You don't play a WWII FPS and wonder why the combat sucks because the weapons reloads so often and so slowly compared to a modern day weapon, so why call Witcher's 2 combat bad just because it doesn't suit your style?

Anyway, the QTEs are described in the manual.

The first time I played the Prologue, I was pretty pissed. I thought the tutorial was way too difficult. The second time around, I understood why.

If you're used to the W1 fighting style, this new system is going to seem counter-intuitive as hell.

Every sign is useful, at least for the Prologue.

Yrden is great for rooting shielded and/or hard hitting enemies, allowing you to whack them in the back a few times before they recover.

Quen is your new "Oh shit" button. It will allow you to get hit 1-3 times depending on the timer. Spamming it whenever you're jumping into the fray is never a bad idea because you have an almost non-existent health regeneration in combat. It also allows you to cast Axii without fear of being interrupted as long as you're absorbing the hits.

The ones I didn't use frequently are the only signs that were useful in W1 : Aard and Igni.

tl;dr : Learn to use Yrden and Quen all the time. If you don't find them useful, force yourself into situations where they become useful. I didn't need a single bomb/potion/coating to finish the prologue with my new-found playstyle and hopefully those having a hard time will fare better after reading this.

Is it possible to change the difficulty settings in the middle of the game. Having big problems with the fight in the courtyard. :-(

I found Igni pretty much useless except in rare cases too. Although I used Yrden less (it's still pretty useful), and I used a lot more of Aard - especially in high places against numerous human enemies; makes you feel like a Jedi knight spamming Force Push when they fly out backwards screaming into the oblivion! xD